Kevin Hunter, the ex-husband of former daytime speak present host Wendy Williams, has suffered a significant authorized setback in his ongoing $7 million wrongful termination lawsuit in opposition to the producers of The Wendy Williams Present.
In accordance with The Blast, the United States Courtroom of Appeals for the Second Circuit dominated on April 8 to vacate a earlier win for Hunter, siding as a substitute with the present’s manufacturing firm, Debmar-Mercury, and its executives Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus.
Hunter initially filed the lawsuit in 2023, claiming he was wrongfully terminated by Debmar-Mercury following his divorce from Wendy Williams. He alleged that his dismissal from his function as an govt producer on the present amounted to discrimination primarily based on his “marital standing.”
Nevertheless, the appeals court docket drew from a precedent-setting case that clarified how “marital standing” is outlined legally. In accordance with the court docket, the time period refers broadly as to whether somebody is married—not the particular particulars or circumstances of a selected marriage. As a result of Hunter’s claims centered on his particular person relationship to Wendy Williams, moderately than his normal standing as a married or single particular person, the court docket dominated that his argument didn’t fall inside protected grounds.
Because of this, the upper court docket overturned the sooner resolution that had denied Debmar-Mercury’s request to dismiss the case. The lawsuit has now been remanded again to the decrease court docket for additional proceedings, however with this ruling, the authorized street forward for Hunter has change into considerably steeper.
The ruling comes as Wendy Williams’ private and authorized battles have continued to make headlines, and this newest improvement provides one other layer to the high-profile saga involving her former husband and longtime enterprise affiliate.
Although the case isn’t solely dismissed, this appeals court docket resolution marks a notable blow to Kevin Hunter’s multi-million-dollar authorized pursuit. Keep tuned because the decrease court docket revisits the case.